Holliston to buy its piece of Warren Woods

Saturday

Jul 5, 2014 at 2:31 AM

By Anamika RoyDaily News Staff

HOLLISTON - The town is about to have a piece of Warren Woods like its neighbors in Ashland after selectmen sign a purchase and sale agreement with Northeastern University, the current property owner.The 23.8-acre property, located off of Meadowbrook Lane on the Ashland town line, was OK’d for purchase by Town Meeting in May 2013.The purchase was brought to Town Meeting last year through two local committees. The Open Space Committee asked voters to set aside $260,000 and the Community Preservation Committee asked to approve $100,000 from a fund that is under their purview. The land costs roughly $350,000 plus fees.According to meeting minutes, both articles were unanimously approved.Since the town is using preservation money to pay for the land, it will have to sign a conservation restriction. A private donor has said it will donate $150,000 after the restriction is signed.Northeastern University approached Ashland and Holliston to buy the parts of Warren Woods in their respective towns over a year ago but former Community Preservation Committee Chairman Sam Tyler said the university didn’t seem interested in doing business with the town.“There was interest but Northeastern wasn’t really pushing it,” he said in a phone interview Wednesday.Once Holliston and Northeastern agreed on the sale, the proposal was brought to Town Meeting. One of the warrant articles related to the property said the land must be acquired within a year after the vote. That deadline was extended at spring Town Meeting this year. Those time restrictions were put in place to give the Community Preservation Committee access to that money for other projects, according to Frank Chamberlain, the current committee chairman.After Ashland bought its portion of Warren Woods last year, the town found out that part of the land that used to be apple orchards was contaminated with arsenic from pesticides.Chamberlain said he’s not concerned about contamination in the land Holliston is buying.“As far as we can tell, the contamination doesn’t reach this area,” he said Wednesday, adding that the town has never checked the soil on the property.Anamika Roy can be reached at 508-626-3957 or aroy@wickedlocal.com. Follow her on Twitter @anamikaroy.

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